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Transformative Social Innovation and its paradoxes

Paradoxes of Transformative Social Innovation: interrogating new knowings of

governance and imaginaries of societal transformation, 06-07/12/17, Brussels (BE)

Dr. Bonno Pel (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 613169.

www.transitsocialinnovation.eu

Contents

1) On the TRANSIT project (2014-2017)

2) Towards TSI middle-range theory

3) TSI theorizing: Critical, Relational, Processual

4) TSI paradoxes


1 On the TRANSIT project (2014-2017)


DRIFT (Coordinator) Erasmus University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands

3S-group University of East Anglia, United Kingdom

ICIS University of Maastricht, the Netherlands

IHS Erasmus University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands

ULB-CEDD Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

AAU Aalborg University, Denmark

SPRU University of Sussex, United Kingdom

IEC-UNQ Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Argentina

COPPE Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Brasil

People-Environment Research Group Universidade da Coruna, Spain

BOKU University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria

ESSRG research and development SME, Hungary

Contact: scientific coordinators Flor Avelino & Julia Wittmayer (DRIFT)

Partners

https://www.facebook.com/transitsocialinnovation

@TransitSI

https://www.linkedin.com/transitsocialinnovation

[email protected]

http://www.transitsocialinnovation.eu/downloads

TRANSIT final conference “Learning for Change “, Rotterdam (NL) , 14/15 September 2017

https://tsimanifesto.org/

“This is a manifesto ‘in-the-making’. It is written by and for activists, entrepreneurs,

policy-makers, citizens, critical intellectuals and other engaged individuals who are

interested in understanding and contributing to social change to face the challenges

of our times and to imagine alternative futures. The aim of this document is to unite

those people, to identify complementarities, differences, common insights and

challenges.”


2 Towards TSI middle-range theory

Social innovation: Changing

social relations, involving new

ways of doing, organizing,

framing and knowing

Transformative social innovation: a

process of changing social relations,

that involves the challenging, altering

or replacing of dominant institutions in

a specific context.


Research questions

Critically affirmed Assumption:

Social innovation contributes to wider transformative change and empowers people to deal with societal challenges. (“…so we need to scale up!”)

Research questions TRANSIT-project:

• How, to what extent and under which conditions does social innovation contribute to transformative change?

• How are people empowered (or disempowered) to contribute to such processes?

• How do we conceptualise and study transformative social innovation?


TSI: Towards middle-range theory.

Geels (2007; 2010): Need for empowering, solid middle-range theory of transformative change. Beyond ‘reificophobia’.

Yet also need to avoid reifying, abstract systems theory (Jørgensen 2012; Garud & Gehman 2012; Jessop et al. 2013; Avelino et al. 2016)

Haxeltine et al. (forthcoming): MRT theory-building & relational framework

Pel et al. (forthcoming): Embedded, fluid, provisional Units of Analysis.

-> Cautious MRT development, iterative elaborations of TSI framework

Special issue

(forthcoming

2017):

“Methodological

challenges in SI

research”

Wittmayer, Pel,

Bauler & Avelino

Haxeltine et al. (in progress): “Towards a TSI theory: a relational framework and

12 propositions”, to be submitted to Research Policy.


3 TSI theorizing: A Critical Theory

10 square miles surrounded by reality? (North 2014)

‘Janus face’ of governance beyond-the-state; neoliberal governmentalities (Swyngedouw 2005) and neglect of disempowerment (Avelino et al. 2017).

Shaped through New Public Management (Lévesque 2013) and innovation systems (Jessop et al. 2013) ideologies.

Strong/weak SI (Defourny & Nyssens 2013; Klein et al. 2016)

Transformation imaginaries: Silent reproduction of ‘Seeing like a state’ and expertocracy (Stirling 2016)?


TSI theorizing: Relational Theory

Social relations & organizational forms experimented with (Smith & Stirling 2016, Avelino et al. 2017)

No innovation heroes; distributed innovation agency (Law 1992; Akrich et al. 2002a,b)

Hybrid institutional sphere (Nicholls & Murdock 2012 ; Avelino & Wittmayer 2016)

Travels & circulations of ideas (Czarniawska & Joerges 1996; Pel & Backhaus forthcoming)

Intertwined knowing & doing (Jasanoff 2004; Chilvers & Longhurst 2015; Stirling 2016)

Institutions and action fields as evolving structures (Emirbayer 1997; Fligstein & McAdam 2011; Lowndes & Roberts 2013)


TSI theorizing: Process theory SI practices as contextual re-introductions (Moulaert & Ailenei

2005; Shove 2012, Godin & Vinck 2017)

Intermittent entities, causality as phases, sequences & pathways (Pettigrew 1997, Langley 1999, Schot & Geels 2007)

SI as phase in adaptive cycles of instutionalization (Moore et

al. 2012; Westley et al. forthcoming)

The historical rise of the service-based economy (Howaldt et

al. , 2015; Nicholls & Murdoch 2012)

SI as dialectical turn in socio-technical (Pel, Wallenborn & Bauler

2016) and socio-economic (Kemp et al. 2016) relations.


4 TSI paradoxes Critical, relational, process perspective ->

TSI is a paradoxical affair (Avelino et al. 2017).

Innovative ‘island’ or ‘frontier’? Lifestyle icon or everyday-life transformation?

Defensive resistance or constructive thrust forward?

Trojan horse or sheep in wolf’s clothing?


Some TSI paradoxes

Transformation & reproduction of institutions.

Emancipating ‘new organizational forms’ & new power relations.

SI networks: stabilizing & diluting collective identities.

Historical shaping of SI: re-introduction & fading of social practices – ‘progressive’ & ‘regressive’.


TSI paradoxes, a cross-cutting (symposium) theme

Acknowledgement TSI paradoxes: (re-) positioning SI research firmly in humanities/social theory (Cf. Moulaert et al. 2017)

Theme theorized earlier, elsewhere & differently…

- let’s explore & discuss!

Wednesday December 6th 2017

12.00 - 13.00 Lunch

13.00 - 15.00 Part I: Dr. Bonno Pel (Université Libre de Bruxelles, BE)

Introduction: TSI and its paradoxes

Part II: TSI paradoxes – some empirical examples

Dr. Julianna Faludi (Corvinus University of Budapest, HUN),

Paul-Marie Boulanger, MSc. (Inst. pour un Développement

Durable, BE)

15.00 – 15.30 Coffee break

15.30 – 17.00 Prof. Marthe Nyssens (Université Catholique de Louvain, BE)

Social enterprise: strong or weak social innovation?

Discussant: György Pataki (Corvinus University of Budapest, HUN)

19.30 Dinner: Arcadi café, Rue d’Arenberg 1B

Thursday December 7th 2017

9.30-11.00 Jens Dorland, MSc. (Aalborg University, Denmark)

TSI paradoxes in SI network formation

Plenary discussion Moulaert et al. (2017): “Social Innovation

as a Trigger for Transformations; The Role of Research”

11.00-11.30 Coffee break

11.30-13.00 Prof. Cornelius Schubert (Universität Siegen, Germany)

Social innovations as repair innovations. Some paradoxes of governing social change.

Discussant: Dr. Grégoire Wallenborn (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)

13.00-14.00 Lunch

14.00-15.30 Prof. Ronan Le Velly (Montpellier SupAgro, France)

Allowing for the projective in analysing alternative food networks

Discussant: Prof. Olivier de Schutter (Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium)

15.30-16.00 Closing


References

Akrich, M., Callon, M. and B. Latour, B. (2002). The key to success in innovation part I: The art of interessement.

International Journal of Innovation Management, 6 (2), 187-206.

Avelino, F., & Wittmayer, J. M. (2016). Shifting power relations in sustainability transitions: a multi-actor perspective.

Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 18(5), 628-649.

Avelino, F., Grin, J., Pel, B., & Jhagroe, S. (2016). The politics of sustainability transitions. Journal of Environmental Policy &

Planning, 18(5), 557-567.

Avelino, F., J.M. Wittmayer, B. Pel, P. Weaver, A. Dumitru, A. Haxeltine, R. Kemp, M.S. Jørgensen, T. Bauler, S. Ruijsink, T.

O’Riordan (2017), Transformative Social Innovation and (Dis)Empowerment: Towards a Heuristic, Technological

Forecasting and Social Change, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.05.002

Chilvers, J., & Longhurst, N. (2015). A Relational Co-productionist Approach to Sociotechnical Transitions. 3S Working Paper

2015-27, Norwich: Science, Society and Sustainability Research Group, UEA.

Czarniawska, B. and Joerges, B. (1996). Travels of ideas. Translating organizational change.

Defourny, J., & Nyssens, M. (2013). Social innovation, social economy and social enterprise: what can the European debate

tell us?. The international handbook on social innovation, 40-53.

Emirbayer, M. (1997) Manifesto for a relational sociology, American Journal of Sociology, 103, 2, 281–317.

Fligstein, N. and McAdam, D. (2011). Toward a General Theory of Strategic Action Fields. Sociological Theory, 29 (1), 1-26.

Garud, R., and Gehman, J. (2012) Metatheoretical perspectives on sustainability journeys: Evolutionary, relational and

durational. Research Policy, 41(6), 980-995.

Geels, F. W. (2007) Feelings of discontent and the promise of middle range theory for STS; examples from technology

dynamics. Science, Technology and Human Values, 32(6), 627-651.


References

Geels, F. W. (2010) Ontologies, socio-technical transitions (to sustainability), and the multi-level perspective. Research Policy,

39(4), 495-510.

Godin, B., & Vinck, D. (2017), Critical Studies of Innovation: Alternative Approaches to the Pro-Innovation Bias, Edward Elgar

Haxeltine, A., Pel, B., Dumitru, A., Kemp, R., Avelino, F., Jørgensen, M.S., Wittmayer, J., Kunze, I., Dorland, J. & Bauler, T. (2017),

Consolidated version of TSI theory, TRANSIT deliverable D3.4,

Haxeltine, A., Pel, B., Wittmayer, J., Dumitru, A., Kemp, R. & Avelino, A. (forthcoming), Building a middle-range theory of

Transformative Social Innovation; theoretical pitfalls and methodological responses, European Public and Social Innovation Review

Haxeltine, A., Pel, B., Wittmayer, J., Dumitru, A., Kemp, R. and Avelino, A. (forthcoming), Building a middle-range theory of Transformative Social Innovation; theoretical pitfalls and methodological responses, European Public and Social Innovation Review

Howaldt, J., Kopp, R., & Schwarz, M. (2015). On the theory of social innovations: Tarde's neglected contribution to the development of a sociological innovation theory.

Jasanoff, S. (2004) States of Knowledge: the Co--‐production of Science and the Social Order, London: Routledge.

Jessop, B., F. Moulaert, F., L. Hulgård and A.Hamdouch. 2013. “Social innovation research: a new stage in innovation research?” in Moulaert, F. et al. (eds.). (2013), The International Handbook on Social Innovation; Collective Action, Social Learning and Transdisciplinary Research. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 110-127

Jørgensen, U. (2012) Mapping and navigating transitions—The multi-level perspective compared with arenas of development, Research Policy, 41(6), 996-1010.

Kemp, R., Strasser, T., Davidson, M., Avelino, F., Pel, B., Dumitru, A., & Weaver, P. (2016). The humanization of the economy through social innovation. In SPRU 5th Anniversary Conference, Brighton.

Klein, J.L., A. Camus, C. Jetté, C. Champagne and M. Roy (eds.) (2016), La transformation sociale par l’innovation sociale. Montreal: Presses de l’ Université de Québec


References

Law, J. (1992). Notes on the theory of the actor-network: Ordering, strategy, and heterogeneity. Systemic practice and action research, 5(4), 379-393. Lévesque , B. (2013) Social innovation in governance and public management systems: towards a new paradigm? In: F. Moulaert (Ed.), The International Handbook on Social Innovation; Collective Action, Social Learning and Transdisciplinary Research, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2013. Lowndes, V., and Roberts, M. (2013), Why institutions matter: The new institutionalism in political science. Palgrave Macmillan. Moore, M. L., Westley, F. R., Tjornbo, O., & Holroyd, C. (2012). The loop, the lens, and the lesson: using resilience theory to examine public policy and social innovation. In Nicholls & Murdoch (2012), Social innovation (pp. 89-113). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Moulaert, F., & Ailenei, O. (2005). Social economy, third sector and solidarity relations: A conceptual synthesis from history to present. Urban studies, 42(11), 2037-2053. Moulaert, F. Mehmood, A, MacCallum, D. & Leubolt, B. (Eds.) (2017), Social Innovation as a Trigger for Transformations; The Role of Research, European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation Nicholls, A. and Murdock, A. (2012) (Eds.), Social Innovation: Blurring Boundaries to Reconfigure Markets, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingsstoke. North, P. (2014), Ten square miles surrounded by reality? Materialising alternative economies using local currencies. Antipode, 46(1), 246-265 Pel, B., Wallenborn, G. & Bauler, T. (2016), Emergent transformation games: exploring social innovation agency and activation through the case of the Belgian electricity blackout threat, Ecology and Society 21(2) Pel, B. & Backhaus, J. (forthcoming), Realizing the Basic Income; the promotion of transformative knowings through competing claims to expertise, Science & Technology Studies Pel, B., Dorland, J., Wittmayer, J. & Jørgensen, M.S. (forthcoming), Detecting Social Innovation agency; Methodological reflections on units of analysis in dispersed transformation processes, European Public and Social Innovation Review


References

Pettigrew, A. M. (1997). What is a processual analysis?. Scandinavian journal of management, 13(4), 337-348. Geels, F. W., & Schot, J. (2007). Typology of sociotechnical transition pathways. Research policy, 36(3), 399-417. Shove, E. (2012), The shadowy side of innovation: unmaking and sustainability. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 24(4), 363-375. Smith, A. & Stirling, A. (2016), Grassroots Innovation and Innovation Democracy, STEPS Working Paper 89, Brighton: STEPS Centre Stirling A. (2016) Knowing Doing Governing: Realizing Heterodyne Democracies. In: Voß JP & Freeman R. (Eds.) (2016) Knowing Governance: The Epistemic Construction of Political Order. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 259-286 Swyngedouw, E. (2005), Governance Innovation and the Citizen: The Janus Face of Governance-beyond-the- State, Urban Studies 42 (11), 1991-2006 Westley, F., McGowan, K. & Tjörnbo, O. (forthcoming), The Evolution of Social Innovation Building Resilience Through Transitions , EdwardElgar

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